Mengo accuses businessman Ham of land grabbing

Businessman Nakibinge Kaggwa (in white) talks to Uganda People’s Defence Forces soldiers at the contested piece of land in Kigo, Wakiso District, on March 11, 2022. PHOTO/JAMES KABENGWA

What you need to know:

  • Officials from the Buganda Land Board say the businessman forcefully created a road on the piece of land with the help of Unra.

The Buganda Land Board (BLB) has accused businessman Hamis Kiggundu of land grabbing and fraud over a 140 acre piece of land in Kigo, Wakiso District.

The land initially comprised Block 273- Kyadondo on plots 38, 87, 99, and 110 but has since been converted into plot 23977.

In a March 11 letter to the director of the Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra), BLB executive director Simon Kabogoza accused a former staff member of Unra, Mr William Matovu, and the station manager of Kampala, Mr Frank Rutebarika, of working with Kiham Enterprises to create a road to the contentious land.

Kiham Enterprises is a company created by Mr Kiggundu and another businessman, Mr Nakibinge Kaggwa,
“We are reliably informed that Kiham [Enterprises] with help and assistance of your officers in Unra and your former employee have stormed Kabaka’s land in Kigo creating a road thereon under the pretext of creating community drainage,” Mr Kabogoza wrote.

This followed the grading of an access route from the Munyonyo Expressway Spur between Serena Hotel, Kigo and Mirembe Villas towards the contentious piece of land by Unra officials who were accompanied by soldiers and the police.

“The same [land] is subject of cancellation proceedings at the Ministry of Lands,” Mr Kabogoza said.

He wondered why Unra officials were involved in the grading of the land and yet the authority, in its operating procedures, engages owners and compensates the affected parties.

“This conduct is affecting us and our development partners and is likely to affect our current and future relations with you,” Mr Kabogoza said.

Efforts to get a comment from Mr Kiggundu were futile as he did not answer our repeated phone calls.
 His colleague Mr Kaggwa also did not comment on the matter when contacted.

Mr Joseph Kayemba, a legal officer of BLB, in an interview with Daily Monitor at the weekend said: “What Kiham [Enterprises] is claiming [to be doing] using Unra staff is creating a drainage channel along the Express road so that they get access to dump soil in the swamp separating Mirembe Villas and Serena Hotel, Kigo to create a road to reach the 140 acres they claim.”

He added: “Interestingly the 140 acres is actually not land but part of the lake.....so they want to reclaim a lake area.” 

Documents seen by Daily Monitor indicate that Mr Kiggundu and Mr Kaggwa used Kiham Enterprises to apply for the 140 acres of land in Wakiso District on November 21, 2019.

Kiham Enterprises’ title is a freehold one created out of mailo land and is said to be swampy and touches the shores of Lake Victoria.